Are Chelsea FC title contenders or pretenders?

After last season's top four Premier League finish and FIFA Club World Cup success, the mood around Chelsea Football Club is quite optimistic, with many fans believing they can challenge for the most important titles. With a productive summer transfer window under their belt, and a decent start to the season so far, will Chelsea be able to compete at the highest level?

The Blues' supporters will argue that their Club World Cup victory in the United States is concrete proof that the club belongs in Europe's elite. After all, in the final, they completely outplayed a PSG team that many argued was one of the best in history. But is that result truly representative of the team's level? It's obvious that there was a substantial element of luck in their victory, as they avoided every single top 5 leagues opponent until the final, and sometimes struggled against lesser opposition. Defeated by Flamengo in the group stage, and winning through a bizarre deflection against Palmeiras, Chelsea enjoyed more than their fair share of good fortune in this cup run. One match can never reflect a team's level, but form can. Going into the final against PSG, Chelsea had won 13 of their previous 15 matches, with the only two losses occuring when they played with ten men. No one can deny that ever since that dramatic win against Fulham in late April, the Blues have been one of the world's most in-form teams, and people were wrong to write them off so quickly before the final. That end of season form translated into transfer window success, with players lining up to join the World Champions. The signings of Liam Delap, Estevao Willian, Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens have boosted Chelsea's attacking threat. Jorrel Hato and Dario Essugo will further bolster their squad depth in midfield and defence. We're only two games into the new season, so it's difficult to decide whether these signings will be enough for the Pensioners to compete for a Premier League or Champions League title. Anything is possible in football, and we've seen the benefits of a dynamic, attacking, and youth-based approach for Barcelona under Hansi Flick, PSG under Luis Enrique and now Chelsea under Enzo Maresca.

To compete for the biggest trophies, Chelsea will have to do two things. First, sign a more reliable goalkeeper than Robert Sanchez. The goalkeeper position is the only one in which Chelsea possess little talent. The 6"6' giant has been inconsistent over his two years at the club, boasting the best save percentage in the league last season, and the fourth - highest amount of goals prevented. However, he also commited five errors that led to a goal, the highest tally in the league, and his passing statistics stand in the 20/30th percentile. This inconsistency is unacceptable for a club such as Chelsea, and the goalkeeping position should be their number one priority in the final days of the window. With a keeper that's more consistent and superior at passing, there is no reason why Chelsea cannot establish themselves as one of the world's best teams. Second, Enzo Maresca must be more tactically flexible than he was last season. The Blues started off the season in great form, and around early December they were in the title race, but over the next 10 games, they picked up 9 points and were unsure of even reaching Champions League football. What was the reason behind this sudden drop in form? Was it injuries, the loss of a key player? No, teams simply figured out how to play against Chelsea. Under Maresca, the club has adopted a posession - heavy, Man City - like approach. For a few months, it worked wonders, but at one point, teams finally understood that Chelsea didn't possess the individual quality that the Cityzens did, and decided to adopt an extremely low-block whenever facing the Blues. Over the next two months, Chelsea were unable to unlock defenses, as their attacking quality wasn't high enough to create chances in such tight spaces. The main criticism of Enzo Maresca over this period was that he insisted on keeping the same system, despite it yielding no results. Clearly, the Italian has learnt from his mistakes, as against a high - pressing, high - intensity PSG side, he was willing to sit low, defend, and take chances on the counter - attack. He must keep this tactical flexibility in mind during this season, as Chelsea will have to adapt. A club cannot play one way against Burnley and play the same way against Barcelona. Maresca must be versatile, and not let teams create a blueprint of what needs to be done to beat Chelsea. If Chelsea sign a world - class goalkeeper and remain tactically flexible, there is no reason at all why this club shouldn't be able to compete for the Premier League or the UCL.